Storm shelters in demand after tornado

May 22, 2013

By: HattiesburgAmerican.com

Hattiesburg American - Storm shelters certified by the National Storm Shelter Association
are tested against 250-mph winds and debris traveling at that speed, says Ernst Kiesling,
head of the NSSA and a research professor at Texas Tech University's National Wind
Institute in Lubbock. 'They would have easily survived the 200-mph winds reported
from Oklahoma,' Kiesling says. 'We're greatly chagrined that the message has been
sent that the only safe place is underground. That's simply not accurate. People can
feel very safe in a modern storm shelter.'

Storm shelter makers report a flood of calls in the wake of the mile-wide tornado
that devastated an Oklahoma town Monday.

...

Storm shelters certified by the National Storm Shelter Association are tested against
250-mph winds and debris traveling at that speed, says Ernst Kiesling, head of the
NSSA and a research professor at Texas Tech University's National Wind Institute in
Lubbock. "They would have easily survived the 200-mph winds reported from Oklahoma,"
Kiesling says. "We're greatly chagrined that the message has been sent that the only
safe place is underground. That's simply not accurate. People can feel very safe in
a modern storm shelter."